Picnicking US Tourists Stranded on Iceberg
File photo. iStockphoto/Thinkstock(Fjallsárlón, Iceland) — American tourists dining on a glacier in eastern Iceland found themselves floating away from shore earlier this week, an Icelandic newspaper reported. Four people were rescued f…
Putin Responds to Obama’s Missile Defense Letter
Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images(LONDON) — A top Kremlin aide, Nikolai Patrushev, who is in Washington this week, is carrying a letter from President Vladimir Putin to President Obama, according to the Russian Embassy in D.C.In a statement on its website,…
British Mother Confronted Suspects After London Attack
Hemera/Thinkstock(LONDON) — Anyone looking for a sign of British bravery in the face of terror should look no further than Ingrid Loyau-Kennett. A British soldier had been hacked to death on the streets of southeast London Wednesday afternoon. His all…
London Attack: British Intel Knew of Suspects in Hacking Death
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images(LONDON) — The two men who allegedly hacked a British soldier to death were known to intelligence services before the Wednesday incident, a British security official admitted Thursday. Still, the men weren’t deemed enough of a …
London Attack: Man Hacked to Death Was a British Soldier
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(LONDON) — British authorities are debating whether to raise the country’s threat level one day after a British soldier was hacked to death by suspects shouting jihadist slogans in southeast London.
Britain’s top leaders held an …
Afghan President Promises He Won’t Seek Third Term
SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images(KABUL, Afghanistan) — Afghan President Hamid Karzai won’t run in 2014. Actually, he can’t. The flamboyant and often inscrutable leader is barred by his constitution from seeking a third term.
Karzai asserted that there is “…
Kerry Pushing Al-Assad to Find Peace in Syria
SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images(AMMAN, Jordan) — Secretary Of State John Kerry is sending a message to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad: either find a peaceful solution to the two-year civil war or be prepared to deal with the international community boost…
Jailed Pussy Riot Member Begins Hunger Strike
NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP/GettyImages(MOSCOW) — One of the jailed members of the Russian feminist punk group Pussy Riot has gone on a hunger strike.Maria Alyokhina announced her hunger strike after being denied the right to attend her own parole hearing…
Octogenarians Face Off to Earn Title of Oldest Man to Reach Everest Summit
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Two octogenarian climbers are facing off once again to earn the title of the oldest man to reach the summit of Mount Everest.Yuichiro Miura, of Japan, is ascending the mountain in hopes of taking home the Guinness Wo…
Pizza Delivery to Afghanistan Troops Set Guinness Record
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(CHICAGO) — A pizza mission to U.S. military service members in Afghanistan has made the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest pizza delivery.The non-profit, Pizza 4 Patriots, a 501(c)3 registered non-profit based in Illi…
Man Killed in Suspected London Terrorist Attack
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(LONDON) — Two attackers savagely killed a man believed to be a British soldier just outside army barracks in southeast London, telling eyewitnesses the killing was “an eye for an eye…because Muslims are dying by British soldie…
Duchess Kate Shows Baby Bump at Queen’s Garden Party
Toby Melville – WPA Pool/Getty Images(LONDON) — The countdown is on for Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton’s July delivery, and with every public appearance the duchess looks more like a mom-to-be.On Wednesday the duchess’ seven-months-pr…
Ai Weiwei Heavy Metal Video Rants Against State Control
aiweiwei.com(BEIJING) — The opening moments of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei’s new video (available on the artist’s website) set the tone for the next five minutes and 13 seconds. Against pounding guitar chords reminiscent of a Metallica classi…
In Apparent Anti-Gay Protest, Man Commits Suicide in Notre Dame
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(PARIS) — The Notre Dame cathedral in Paris was evacuated and closed for four hours on Tuesday after a man shot himself dead near the altar. Dominique Venner, a 78-year-old French historian, entered the cathedral Tuesday an…
Iraq’s Spate of Sectarian Violence Continues
iStockPhoto/Thinkstock(BAGHDAD) — Deadly attacks driven by sectarian tensions slowed somewhat in Iraq on Tuesday, although officials there say that bombings still took the lives of 20 people while injuring at least 100 others.The death toll during six…
Iraq’s Spate of Sectarian Violence Continues
iStockPhoto/Thinkstock(BAGHDAD) — Deadly attacks driven by sectarian tensions slowed somewhat in Iraq on Tuesday, although officials there say that bombings still took the lives of 20 people while injuring at least 100 others.The death toll during six…
UN-Arab League Envoy Has Hopes for Syrian Peace Summit
ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP/Getty Images(CAIRO) — The United Nations-Arab League mediator in charge of trying to find a solution to the two-year conflict in Syria expressed optimism on Tuesday that officials from President Bashar al-Assad’s government and repre…
UN-Arab League Envoy Has Hopes for Syrian Peace Summit
ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP/Getty Images(CAIRO) — The United Nations-Arab League mediator in charge of trying to find a solution to the two-year conflict in Syria expressed optimism on Tuesday that officials from President Bashar al-Assad’s government and repre…
Group Condemns Prosecution of Afghan Women for ‘Moral Crimes’
Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Human Rights Watch on Tuesday decried the latest surge of “moral crimes” in Afghanistan, in which women and girls are actually punished for offenses perpetrated against them by men.The watchdog group pointed to th…
Iran Rejects Ahmadinejad’s Possible Successor
ABC/Donna Svennevik(TEHRAN, Iran) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s pick to succeed him won’t be doing that.Iran’s Guardian Council decided on Tuesday that Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, a close presidential aide whose daughter happens to be m…